Identifying and Advocating Best Practices in the Criminal Justice System. A Texas-Centric Examination of Current Conditions, Reform Initiatives, and Emerging Issues with a Special Emphasis on Capital Punishment.

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Coverage of Philadelphia Hearing in Terry Williams Case

Condemned
killer Terrance "Terry" Williams was back in Philadelphia on Monday,
sitting quietly, hands and feet shackled, as lawyers tried to persuade a
Philadelphia judge to block his Oct. 3 execution.

Sarmina then gave Williams' team until Friday to
supplement their claim of newly discovered evidence that Williams killed
Amos Norwood in 1984 after years of sexual abuse - not to rob him.

Sarmina told defense attorneys Billy Nolas and Shawn Nolan she
considered their new evidence - a 2012 statement by Marc Draper,
Williams' confessed accomplice - too vague for a late plea to stay the
execution.

"What's the basis of Draper's knowledge?" asked Sarmina. "That doesn't make it so just because someone says it."

Deputy District Attorney Ronald Eisenberg told Sarmina that nothing in
Williams' petition was new and that his claims of sexual abuse had been
rejected by state and federal appeals courts.

And:

The pardons board will privately interview Williams on Thursday and
hold a public hearing Monday in Harrisburg. The five-member board must
unanimously recommend clemency for Corbett to consider the nonbinding
recommendation.

Corbett signed Williams' death warrant Aug. 9 in what would be the state's first execution since 1999.

At issue before Sarmina is a sworn Jan. 9 statement by Draper, 46, who
pleaded guilty to participating in Norwood's killing and became the key
prosecution witness against Williams at his 1986 trial.

A judge wants more evidence by Thursday
before ruling on a motion to stay the scheduled Oct. 3 execution of a
Philadelphia man on death row.

Terrance Williams was sentenced
to death for killing Amos Norwood with a tire iron at age 18, months
after killing another man. He's exhausted his appeals, which reached a
federal appeals court.

But his lawyers now say there's new evidence a co-defendant involved
in the 1984 killing can corroborate his abuse claims. They say the jury
might have spared Williams the death penalty had that come out.

Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she needs
more than the co-defendant's simple statement to reopen the case. She
wants to know how the co-defendant would have known about the abuse.
However, she agreed the jury might have been interested in the claim.

Sarmina said she has handled three cases that ended with a death sentence.

"Where the victim is not a sympathetic victim, a jury is much less likely to come back with a sentence of death," Sarmina said.

Philadelphia prosecutors oppose the request for a new
evidence hearing. They argue that Williams, now 46, is simply trying to
push back his execution date.

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The StandDown Texas Project

The StandDown Texas Project was organized in 2000 to advocate a moratorium on executions and a state-sponsored review of Texas' application of the death penalty.
To stand down is to go off duty temporarily, especially to review safety procedures.

Steve Hall

Project Director Steve Hall was chief of staff to the Attorney General of Texas from 1983-1991; he was an administrator of the Texas Resource Center from 1993-1995. He has worked for the U.S. Congress and several Texas legislators. Hall is a former journalist.